Maze
by vodka on fire
Summary: The end is near...


The Maze

He'd been wandering around this place since last night. Or he assumed he had; he had woken up in a dismal corridor much like the one he was in now. There was no light yet somehow he could discern what was ahead of him. At times when he was most desperate he fancied he could hear others in the tunnels next to him. He had called out to them on many occasions but he never got any replies. At times the sound seemed to belong to creatures other than human; he would sometimes hear claws scratch against the metal floor. What these sounds meant he was not inclined to contemplate. How long had he been in this maze? Time seemed to meld together; he could have been there for days, or merely hours, for all he knew.

Suddenly the sounds seemed to get louder and closer. "_Whatever's making that noise can't possibly be human," _he thought. His hopes for rescue crushed, he started speeding down the corridor away from the sound . Whatever was following seemed to speed up as well.

His heart was beating against his rib cage; he half expected it to break free with every step; he felt every muscle in his body start to ache. He turned corner after corner in his metal maze yet there was no relief in sight. Whatever was pursuing him never had any problems keeping up. It always knew exactly where he was.

The weariness of his wanderings was catching up to him. He hadn't eaten since before he had woken up in this place, but he certainly wasn't going to become something else's meal. As he turned one corner he stopped, catching his breath. The sound was getting nearer and he could no longer doubt that whatever was following him was inhuman. He heard as huge claws clicked on the metal surface and every now and again he heard pincers scrape against each other. The creature had slowed nearly to a crawl yet still it advanced on him.

He though of staying where he was and hoping the creature wouldn't find him, yet the chances of that were small. With bitter agony he remembered the experiments he had done by placing rats in mazes and having them try to find their piece of cheese. The rat always found the cheese and this time he was the cheese. Sooner or later he would be found.

He looked to each side of the long tunnel he had come out to and observed something peculiar for the first time, unlike all the other tunnels it did not seem to be made of metal, the wall he was resting on was metal but the opposite wall seemed to be some sort of a fleshy substance. Gently he touched it and to his horror he found he could not feel a thing; as his finger reached the wall all feeling disappeared. _"This must be the edge then," _he thought, a slight glimmer of hope rising within him.

He went left down the corridor and though there were several entrances in the metal none were to be found on the other side. He wondered how long the sides of this maze were and if he could survive to reach the entrance. Suddenly he heard a loud thump and a ghastly creature came out of the tunnel he had been standing next to. He could hardly see it at this distance, but to guess, he'd have though it was some sort of insect.

As it saw him the creature released a piercing screech and started running towards him. Without thought for his beating heart or aching muscles he started running as hard as he could following the outer edge of the maze.

Suddenly up ahead of him there was a break in the wall of flesh on his right side. He was saved if he could only make it there. The creature had gained on him that was certain but by how much he could not tell. The fiend's screeches were the only thing he could hear. He wanted to look back but that would slow him down. What was this creature than hunted him so?

He now saw the doorway ahead of him; he had slowed down considerably since he started running. His ribs ached with pain and his mind was so numbed by adrenaline he hardy though about where this new passage led. Wherever it was, it was bound to be better than here.

Mere fractions of a second later he jumped for the opening a gateway in the maze, suddenly a large pincer hit his side. He was thrown away from the opening; his one chance for escape gone. At last he saw the creature that had hunted him so, a hideous travesty of a being. It had the body of a praying mantis, complete with antennas, though two strong arms sprouted at what should have been shoulders each tipped with a huge pincers. There was no doubt in his mind that each was capable of tearing his head off in a single squeeze. Its legs were those of a mantis but each ended with a huge claw that allowed for seemingly impossible speed and would wreak havoc upon this creature's adversary. It stood above him now, proud. It had caught him. It raised one of its large pincers and brought it down on top of him. Tired from the chase he had no way to defend himself. His muscles failed to respond to his urging and his heart could not clam down long enough for him to regain his breath. On last thought crossed his mind before it was splattered against the walls _"The rat had found the cheese." _


End file.
